OpenAI is beginning its push into advertising by leaning on established ad tech companies to connect ChatGPT with advertisers. Conversations with companies such as Criteo and The Trade Desk would give OpenAI immediate access to advertiser demand, measurement tools and agency integrations. Those capabilities allow ChatGPT to start monetizing quickly while OpenAI builds the infrastructure it ultimately wants to control.
Advertising Has Become a Financial Priority
OpenAI’s financial structure puts advertising near the center of its monetization strategy. The company is projected to burn roughly $15 billion in cash this year, rising from about $9 billion in 2025. At the same time, ChatGPT reaches approximately 910 million weekly users, and roughly 95% of those users do not pay for access. Converting that audience into revenue requires a scalable model that can monetize free usage.
Advertising provides the most direct path to that scale. However, OpenAI enters the market without several key components of an advertising ecosystem. The company does not yet have large advertiser relationships, historical performance data or deep agency integrations. Companies such as Criteo and The Trade Desk already operate those connections between brands, agencies and inventory. Their systems provide immediate demand access and measurement capabilities while OpenAI develops its own internal infrastructure.
Building the Architecture for Conversational Advertising
Advertising inside a conversational interface introduces a different set of mechanics than traditional digital advertising. Inventory is created within responses generated during a conversation rather than through page impressions or video breaks. That shift changes how advertising must be delivered, priced and measured.
OpenAI’s long-term stack will likely center on three operational systems that manage how ads appear inside conversations. The first system involves tools that allow advertisers to specify where their messages appear during conversations. Instead of targeting audiences through browsing behavior or demographic data, advertisers would define the categories of conversations where their creative is eligible to appear. A travel company could appear during trip planning discussions, while a productivity software provider could appear during conversations about workplace tools.
The second system focuses on decision logic that determines when advertising appears and which message generates the highest revenue while maintaining conversation quality. That engine would evaluate the context of the conversation, the user’s intent, the relevance of the advertisement and the revenue potential in real time.
The third system involves measurement and optimization. Advertisers require performance reporting, campaign optimization tools and integrations with third-party attribution systems before committing meaningful budgets. Self-service dashboards and performance analytics will become essential components of the system as advertising activity grows.
The Same Infrastructure Strategy Used by Netflix
OpenAI’s approach closely resembles the rollout strategies used by other companies that recently built advertising businesses. Netflix used Microsoft to launch its ad-supported streaming service before gradually internalizing more of the technology. Walmart followed a similar path by assembling demand partnerships during the early stages of its retail media network and later building internal capabilities.
OpenAI appears to be moving through a comparable sequence. Early partnerships provide speed and operational support while the company builds its internal organization. Hiring activity around advertising leadership and compensation packages reportedly reaching $385,000 signal the formation of a permanent advertising operation designed to manage those systems internally.
These signals clarify how OpenAI intends to structure its long-term advertising business.
Early Partnerships Carry Strategic Value for Ad Tech Vendors
Participation in ChatGPT’s advertising ecosystem offers meaningful upside for companies like Criteo and The Trade Desk. Access to an environment with hundreds of millions of active users provides exposure to a rapidly expanding surface for digital advertising.
Criteo enters this opportunity during a transitional period for its business. The company faces an estimated $75 million revenue headwind in 2026 after two large retail media clients reduced their commitments. A role inside ChatGPT’s advertising infrastructure would strengthen its position around AI-driven commerce and provide new growth channels.
The Trade Desk would gain similar demand exposure. Its technology connects advertisers with inventory across the open internet, and the company continues to position itself as an alternative to closed advertising ecosystems. Participation in ChatGPT’s advertising rollout would expand its reach into a new category of digital inventory centered around conversational AI.
Trust Will Shape How the System Evolves
User trust will influence how OpenAI introduces and expands advertising within ChatGPT. The value of the product depends heavily on users believing that responses prioritize helpful information and accurate answers. Advertising introduces additional commercial incentives that must coexist with that expectation.
Recent reactions from users demonstrate how quickly sentiment can shift when trust appears to weaken. Public discussion surrounding OpenAI’s Pentagon partnership led some users to experiment with alternative AI assistants such as Anthropic’s Claude. Early tests of advertising inside ChatGPT also produced visible reactions across online communities.
These dynamics place pressure on OpenAI to manage how advertising appears within conversations. Control over the advertising stack allows the company to determine how data is used, how advertising messages are inserted and how privacy safeguards are enforced across the system.
The Streaming Wars Take
OpenAI is constructing its advertising business through a phased infrastructure strategy that begins with external partnerships and transitions toward internal ownership. Ad tech companies such as Criteo and The Trade Desk provide immediate access to advertiser demand, campaign measurement and agency integrations. Those systems allow ChatGPT to activate advertising revenue quickly while OpenAI builds its internal capabilities.
The scale of ChatGPT’s audience gives the company strong incentives to control the technology and economics surrounding conversational advertising. Ownership of the user relationship, the intent signals generated through conversations and the interface where responses appear position OpenAI to manage every layer of the advertising system as the market develops.
With nearly a billion weekly users and billions of dollars in annual operating costs, the expansion of conversational advertising will move quickly once the underlying infrastructure is established. Companies participating in the early rollout gain access to a rapidly growing environment while OpenAI constructs the systems that will define how advertising operates inside AI-driven conversations.
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